One-piece rail anchor



April 28, 1959 C. G. ERICSON ONE-PIECE RAIL ANCHOR Filed Dec. 12, 1955 BY I.H.AUD6N, rmnelqcsou,

AND maemcson,

Aon m ISTRI'QTOKS BY Q M ATTOKIZIGNS.

United States Patent ONE-PIECE RAIL ANCHOR Charles Gotthard Ericson, deceased, late of Toronto, On-

tario, Canada, by Isabelle Hannah Auden, Oakville, Ontario, and Teresa Anne Lorraine Ericsou, and Albert Charles Ericson, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, administrators, assignors to Mary Adelaide Sullivan, Toronto, Ontario, Elda Grace Marsh, Brookville, Ontario, Isabelle Hannah Auden, Oakville, Ontario, and Teresa Anne Lorraine Ericson and Albert Charles Ericson, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Application December 12, 1955, Serial No. 552,390

Claims. (Cl. 238327) This invention relates to a one-piece rail anchor.

An object of the invention is to provide a one-piece rail anchor for engaging a railroad tie and for gripping a rail base flange with forces substantially greater than the forces which tend to displace the rail relative to the tie.

Another object is to provide a rail anchor which can withstand the shock of being struck by the wheel of a derailed car and prevent damage to the rail.

The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters designate like parts and in which:

Figure 1 is a side view showing in full lines an unde formed rail anchor constructed according to the invention, and showing in dotted lines the rail anchor as it is deformed after it is forced to its initial position on a conventional rail, the rail being also shown in dotted lines;

Figure 2 is a side view showing in full lines the lower portion of the rail and portions of a conventional tie and tie plate, with the rail anchor occupying the position shown in dotted lines in Figure 1, and showing in dotted lines the rail anchor as it is deformed after it is forced to its final position on the rail; and

Figure 3 is a fragmentary plan view of the rail, tie, tie plate and rail anchor, the anchor occupying its final position on the rail.

The rail anchor illustrated is a generally E-shaped bar of spring steel having an upper arm or jaw 1, a middle or intermediate portion 2, and a lower arm or jaw 3, the jaw 3 having an extension or shank 3a. The upper jaw 1 has at the end a lip 1a the lower surface of which is adapted to engage an upper inclined surface 4 of the base flange 5 of a conventional rail 6. From the lip 1a the jaw 1 is bent upwardly and outwardly to clear the surface 4, and then curves downwardly and inwardly to form the intermediate portion 2.

The intermediate portion 2 is adapted to engage the flange 5 at the edge 7 that is adjacent the upper inclined surface 4. From the intermediate portion 2 the bar extends outwardly and downwardly and then curves inwardly and upwardly as the lower arm or jaw 3. The lower jaw 3 is adapted to engage the lower surface 8 of the flange 5 along the upper surface of the shank 3a, the shank extending across the greater portion of the flange away from the intermediate portion 2 and having an upwardly extending hook 3b at its end. When the anchor is forced onto the rail the hook 3b engages the edge 9 of the flange opposite the edge 7.

When the rail anchor is undeformed, as shown in full lines in Figure 1, the flange engaging surfaces of the lip 1a and the shank 3a are spaced apart by a smaller amount than the distance between the parts of the flange that are engaged by the lip and shank when the anchor is forced onto the flange. Thus the anchor is adapted to clamp the flange in a generally vertical direction. Similarly when the anchor is undistorted, the flange engaging surfaces of the intermediate portion 2 and the hook 3b are spaced apart by a smaller amount than the distance between the edges 7 and 9, so that the anchor clamps the flange 5 transversely when in the final position shown in dotted lines in Figure 2.

The upper curved portion of the anchor between the lip 1a and the intermediate portion 2 is of smaller radius than the lower curved portion of the anchor between the intermediate portion 2 and the shank 3a. When the rail anchor is gripping the rail the outer surface 10 of the lower curved portion extends farther outwardly from the rail than the outer surface 11 of the upper curved portion, but nevertheless the inner surface 12 of the upper curved portion as well as the inner surface 13 of the lower curved portion extend outwardly beyond a vertical plane through the edge 7 of the flange. If the wheel of a derailed car should strike the upper jaw 1, the rail anchor can deflect downwardly, being restrained only by the lip 1a which bears against a relatively thick and strong portion of the flange 5. Thus the rail and the rail anchor can withstand extreme shocks from above.

The rail anchor is mounted on the rail by forcing the shank 3a along the lower surface 8 of the flange 5 and the upper jaw 1 along the upper inclined surface 4 until the intermediate portion 2 of the anchor contacts the edge 7 of the flange. The jaws 1 and 3 are forced apart by the flange, as indicated in dotted lines in Figure 1 and in full lines in Figure 2, and the hook 3b forces the end of the lower jaw 3 to deflect downwardly. The anchor is then struck with a spike maul or the like at the outwardly bulging surface 10 below the intermediate portion 2, causing the anchor to pivot about the edge 7 of the flange and reducing the curvature of the portion 2 sufliciently for the hook 3b to snap upwardly along the edge 9. The anchor is then in the final position shown in dotted lines in Figure 2, engaging the flange 5 firmly in stiff spring tension. As shown in Figure 3 the rail anchor is mounted in a location where it bears at one side against the side of a tie 14 so as to prevent displacement of the rail 6 relative to the tie and its associated tie plate 15.

The curved portion connecting the intermediate portion 2 and the lower jaw 3 has a generous curvature to permit considerable deflection of the shank 3a during the mounting of the rail anchor and yet provide a firm clamping action when the anchor is finally positioned on the rail. The general curvature of the E makes for a firm resilient clamping action without danger of the anchor failing due to fatigue.

If, because of wear or corrosion, the distance between the edges 7 and 9 of the rail base flange is smaller than usual, the transverse clamping action between the intermediate portion 2 and the hook 3b is reduced, but the reduction is offset by an increased vertical clamping action between the jaws 1 and 3 due to the fact that the lip 1a is located farther up the inclined surface 4 and the jaws are therefore-spread farther apart.

The embodiment of the invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same and various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of the parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A resilient rail anchor which is deformable to grip firmly the base flange of a rail, comprising a metal bar defining an upper jaw adapted to engage at one end an upper inclined surface of the flange, the jaw having a portion extending outwardly from the said end to clear the said upper inclined surface, the bar extending downwardly from the said outwardly extending portion to form an intermediate portion adapted to engage the vertical edge of the flange adjacent the said upper inclined surface, the

gees-n99 bar then extending outwardly and downwardly from the intermediate portion and then inwardly and upwardly to form a lower jaw adapted to engage the lower surface of the rail base flange and extending away from the intermediate portion and having an upwardly extending end portion adapted when the anchor is forced onto the rail to engage the vertical edge of the flange opposite the vertical edge engaged by the intermediate portion, the flange engaging surfaces of the upper and lower jaws being spaced apart a smaller distance when the anchor is undeformed than the distance between the surfaces of the flange that they are adapted to engage, and the flange engaging surfaces of the intermediate portion and the upwardly extending end portion being spaced apart a smaller distance when the anchor is undeformed than the distance between the opposite vertical edges of the flange, the portion of the bar that extends from the intermediate portion outwardly and downwardly and then inwardly and upwardly forming an outward and downward resilient deformable bulge at the outward part of which the anchor may be struck when the intermediate portion engages its vertical flange edge to deform said bulge and spring the anchor into full engagement with the rail base flange, and the inner surface of the bar above the flange engaging surface of the intermediate portion extending outwardly beyond a vertical plane through the flange engaging surface of the intermediate portion.

2. A resilient rail anchor as claimed in claim 1, in. which the flange engaging surface of the upper jaw is suf ficiently far from the flange engaging surface of the intermediate portion that the upper jaw engages the upper 4 inclined surface of the flange at a location well up on said surface from the edge of the flange engaged by the intermediate portion whereby damage to the flange is prevented if a derailed wheel strikes the upper jaw.

3. A resilient rail anchor as claimed in claim 1, in which the bar has a continuous curvature from the flange engaging surface of the upper jaw to the flange engaging surface of the intermediate portion, and the bar has a further continuous curvature from the flange engaging surface of the intermediate portion to the flange engaging surface of the lower jaw, the portion of the lower jaw adapted to engage the lower surface of the rail base flange comprising a shank of suflicient length to extend across the greater portion of the width of the rail base flange.

4. A resilient rail anchor as claimed in claim 3, in which the first mentioned continuous curvature of the bar is of smaller radius than the second mentioned continuous curvature.

5. A resilient rail anchor as claimed in claim 3 and of generally E-shaped configuration, the upper jaw forming the upper arm of the E, the lower jaw forming the lower arm of the E, and the intermediate portion forming the middle portion of the E.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,691,019 Shepherd Nov. 6, 1928 1,812,414 Shepherd June 30, 1931 2,161,484 Preston June 6, 1939 2,244,755 Warr June 10, 1941 

